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Finan PH, Hunt C, Keaser ML, Smith K, Lerman S, Bingham CO, Barrett F, Garland EL, Zeidan F, Seminowicz DA. Effects of Savoring Meditation on Positive Emotions and Pain-Related Brain Function: A Mechanistic Randomized Controlled Trial in People With Rheumatoid Arthritis. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2024; 25:104478. [PMID: 38244899 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2024.01.343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
Positive emotions are a promising target for intervention in chronic pain, but mixed findings across trials to date suggest that existing interventions may not be optimized to efficiently engage the target. The aim of the current pilot mechanistic randomized controlled trial was to test the effects of a positive emotion-enhancing intervention called Savoring Meditation on pain-related neural and behavioral targets in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Participants included 44 patients with a physician-confirmed diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (n = 29 included in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses), who were randomized to either Savoring Meditation or a Slow Breathing control. Both meditation interventions were brief (four 20-minute sessions). Self-report measures were collected pre-and post-intervention. An fMRI task was conducted at post-intervention, during which participants practiced the meditation technique on which they had been trained while exposed to non-painful and painful thermal stimuli. Savoring significantly reduced experimental pain intensity ratings relative to rest (P < .001). Savoring also increased cerebral blood flow in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and increased connectivity between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and caudate during noxious thermal stimulation relative to Slow Breathing (z = 2.3 voxelwise, false discovery rate cluster corrected P = .05). Participants in the Savoring condition also reported significantly increased positive emotions (ps < .05) and reduced anhedonic symptoms (P < .01) from pre- to post-intervention. These findings suggest that Savoring recruits reward-enhancing corticostriatal circuits in the face of pain, and future work should extend these findings to evaluate if these mechanisms of Savoring are associated with improved clinical pain outcomes in diverse patient populations. PERSPECTIVE: Savoring Meditation is a novel positive emotion-enhancing intervention designed for patients with chronic pain. The present findings provide preliminary evidence that Savoring Meditation is acutely analgesic, and engages neural and subjective emotional targets that are relevant to pain self-management. Future work should evaluate the clinical translation of these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick H Finan
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA; Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - Carly Hunt
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA
| | - Michael L Keaser
- Department of Neural and Pain Sciences, University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Baltimore, MD; Center to Advance Chronic Pain Research, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
| | - Katie Smith
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - Sheera Lerman
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - Clifton O Bingham
- Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
| | - Frederick Barrett
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - Eric L Garland
- Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Health Intervention Development, College of Social Work, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
| | - Fadel Zeidan
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of California-San Diego, San Diego, CA
| | - David A Seminowicz
- Department of Neural and Pain Sciences, University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Baltimore, MD; Center to Advance Chronic Pain Research, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD; Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
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Kaplan CM, Kelleher E, Irani A, Schrepf A, Clauw DJ, Harte SE. Deciphering nociplastic pain: clinical features, risk factors and potential mechanisms. Nat Rev Neurol 2024; 20:347-363. [PMID: 38755449 DOI: 10.1038/s41582-024-00966-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Nociplastic pain is a mechanistic term used to describe pain that arises or is sustained by altered nociception, despite the absence of tissue damage. Although nociplastic pain has distinct pathophysiology from nociceptive and neuropathic pain, these pain mechanisms often coincide within individuals, which contributes to the intractability of chronic pain. Key symptoms of nociplastic pain include pain in multiple body regions, fatigue, sleep disturbances, cognitive dysfunction, depression and anxiety. Individuals with nociplastic pain are often diffusely tender - indicative of hyperalgesia and/or allodynia - and are often more sensitive than others to non-painful sensory stimuli such as lights, odours and noises. This Review summarizes the risk factors, clinical presentation and treatment of nociplastic pain, and describes how alterations in brain function and structure, immune processing and peripheral factors might contribute to the nociplastic pain phenotype. This article concludes with a discussion of two proposed subtypes of nociplastic pain that reflect distinct neurobiological features and treatment responsivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chelsea M Kaplan
- Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | - Eoin Kelleher
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Anushka Irani
- Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Division of Rheumatology, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Andrew Schrepf
- Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Daniel J Clauw
- Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Steven E Harte
- Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Park SH, Michael AM, Baker AK, Lei C, Martucci KT. Enhanced motor network engagement during reward gain anticipation in fibromyalgia. Cortex 2024; 173:161-174. [PMID: 38417389 PMCID: PMC10963137 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2024]
Abstract
Reward motivation is essential in shaping human behavior and cognition. Both reward motivation and reward brain circuits are altered in chronic pain conditions, including fibromyalgia. In this study of fibromyalgia patients, we used a data-driven independent component analysis (ICA) approach to investigate how brain networks contribute to altered reward processing. From females with fibromyalgia (N = 24) and female healthy controls (N = 24), we acquired fMRI data while participants performed a monetary incentive delay (MID) reward task. After analyzing the task-based fMRI data using ICA to identify networks, we analyzed 3 networks of interest: motor network (left), value-driven attention network, and basal ganglia network. Then, we evaluated correlation coefficients between each network timecourse versus a task-based timecourse which modeled gain anticipation. Compared to controls, the fibromyalgia cohort demonstrated significantly stronger correlation between the left motor network timecourse and the gain anticipation timecourse, indicating the left motor network was more engaged with gain anticipation in fibromyalgia. In an exploratory analysis, we compared motor network engagement during early versus late phases of gain anticipation. Across cohorts, greater motor network engagement (i.e., stronger correlation between network and gain anticipation) occurred during the late timepoint, which reflected enhanced motor preparation immediately prior to response. Consistent with the main results, patients exhibited greater engagement of the motor network during both early and late phases compared with healthy controls. Visual-attention and basal ganglia networks revealed similar engagement in the task across groups. As indicated by post-hoc analyses, motor network engagement was positively related to anxiety and negatively related to reward responsiveness. In summary, we identified enhanced reward-task related engagement of the motor network in fibromyalgia using a novel data-driven ICA approach. Enhanced motor network engagement in fibromyalgia may relate to impaired reward motivation, heightened anxiety, and possibly to altered motor processing, such as restricted movement or dysregulated motor planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Su Hyoun Park
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Andrew M Michael
- Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Anne K Baker
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Carina Lei
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Katherine T Martucci
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
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Baker AK, Park SH, Weber KA, Martucci KT. Reduced Spinal Cord Gray Matter in Patients with Fibromyalgia Using Opioids Long-term. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.05.02.23289401. [PMID: 37205383 PMCID: PMC10187444 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.02.23289401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Objective Chronic pain involves alterations in brain gray matter volume (GMV). Moreover, opioid medications are known to reduce GMV in numerous brain regions involved in pain processing. However, no research has evaluated (1) chronic pain-related GMV alterations in the spinal cord or (2) the effect of opioids on spinal cord GMV. Accordingly, this study evaluated spinal cord GMV in health controls and patients with fibromyalgia who were using and not using opioids long-term. Methods We analyzed average C5 - C7 GMV of the spinal cord dorsal and ventral horns in separate female cohorts of healthy controls (HC, n = 30), fibromyalgia patients not using opioids (FMN, n = 31), and fibromyalgia patients using opioids long-term (FMO, n = 27). To assess the effect of group on average dorsal and ventral horn GMV, we conducted a one-way multivariate analysis of covariance. Results After controlling for age, we observed a significant effect of group on ventral horn GMV (p = 0.03, η2 = 0.09), and on dorsal horn GMV (p = 0.05, η2 = 0.08). Tukey's posthoc comparisons showed that, compared to HC participants, FMOs had significantly lower ventral (p = 0.01) and dorsal (p = 0.02) GMVs. Among FMOs only, ventral horn GMV was significantly positively associated with pain severity and interference, and both dorsal and ventral GMVs were significantly positively associated with cold pain tolerance. Conclusion Long-term opioid use may impact sensory processing in fibromyalgia via gray matter changes within the cervical spinal cord.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne K. Baker
- Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham NC 27710
- Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC 27710
| | - Su Hyoun Park
- Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham NC 27710
- Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC 27710
| | - Kenneth A. Weber
- Systems Neuroscience and Pain Lab, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School fo Medicine, Palo Alto, CA 94304
| | - Katherine T. Martucci
- Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham NC 27710
- Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC 27710
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Park SH, Michael AM, Baker AK, Lei C, Martucci KT. Altered Functional Networks during Gain Anticipation in Fibromyalgia. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.04.28.23289290. [PMID: 37163010 PMCID: PMC10168512 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.28.23289290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Reward motivation is essential in shaping human behavior and cognition. Previous studies have shown altered reward motivation and reward brain circuitry in chronic pain conditions, including fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, cognitive problems, and mood-related symptoms. In this study, we analyzed brain reward networks in patients with fibromyalgia by using a data-driven approach with task-based fMRI data. fMRI data from 24 patients with fibromyalgia and 24 healthy controls were acquired while subjects performed a monetary incentive delay (MID) reward task. Functional networks were derived using independent component analysis (ICA) focused on the gain anticipation phase of the reward task. Functional activity in the motor, value-driven attention, and basal ganglia networks was evaluated during gain anticipation in both patient and healthy control groups. Compared to controls, the motor network was more engaged during gain anticipation in patients with fibromyalgia. Our findings suggest that reward motivation may lead to hyperactivity in the motor network, possibly related to altered motor processing, such as restricted movement or dysregulated motor planning in fibromyalgia. As an exploratory analysis, we compared levels of motor network engagement during early and late timepoints of the gain anticipation phase. Both groups showed greater motor network engagement during the late timepoint (i.e., closer to response), which reflected motor preparation prior to target response. Importantly, compared to controls and consistent with the initial findings described above, patients exhibited greater engagement of the motor network during both early and late timepoints. In summary, by using a novel data-driven ICA approach to analyze task-based fMRI data, we identified elevated motor network engagement during gain anticipation in fibromyalgia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Su Hyoun Park
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Anne K. Baker
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Carina Lei
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Katherine T. Martucci
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
- Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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Park SH, Deng EZ, Baker AK, MacNiven KH, Knutson B, Martucci KT. Replication of neural responses to monetary incentives and exploration of reward-influenced network connectivity in fibromyalgia. NEUROIMAGE. REPORTS 2022; 2:100147. [PMID: 36618964 PMCID: PMC9815752 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynirp.2022.100147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Neuroimaging research has begun to implicate alterations of brain reward systems in chronic pain. Previously, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a monetary incentive delay (MID) task, Martucci et al. (2018) showed that neural responses to reward anticipation and outcome are altered in fibromyalgia. In the present study, we aimed to test the replicability of these altered neural responses to reward in a separate fibromyalgia cohort. In addition, the present study was conducted at a distinct U.S. location but involved a similar study design. For the present study, 20 patients with fibromyalgia and 20 healthy controls participated in MID task fMRI scan procedures and completed clinical/psychological questionnaires. fMRI analyses comparing patient and control groups revealed a consistent trend of main results which were largely similar to the prior reported results. Specifically, in the replication fibromyalgia cohort, medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) response was reduced during gain anticipation and was increased during no-loss (non-punishment) outcome compared to controls. Also consistent with previous findings, the nucleus accumbens response to gain anticipation did not differ in patients vs. controls. Further, results from similarly-designed behavioral, correlational, and exploratory analyses were complementary to previous findings. Finally, a novel network-based functional connectivity analysis of the MID task fMRI data across patients vs. controls implied enhanced connectivity within the default mode network in participants with fibromyalgia. Together, based on replicating prior univariate results and new network-based functional connectivity analyses of MID task fMRI data, we provide further evidence of altered brain reward responses, particularly in the MPFC response to reward outcomes, in patients with fibromyalgia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Su Hyoun Park
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA,Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Eden Z. Deng
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA,Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Anne K. Baker
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA,Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Kelly H. MacNiven
- Department of Psychology, Symbiotic Project on Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Brian Knutson
- Department of Psychology, Symbiotic Project on Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Katherine T. Martucci
- Department of Anesthesiology, Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Laboratory, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA,Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA,Corresponding author. Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Lab, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Box DUMC 3094, Durham, NC 27710 USA., (K.T. Martucci)
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Park SH, Baker AK, Krishna V, Mackey SC, Martucci KT. Altered resting-state functional connectivity within corticostriatal and subcortical-striatal circuits in chronic pain. Sci Rep 2022; 12:12683. [PMID: 35879602 PMCID: PMC9314446 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-16835-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain corticostriatal circuits are important for understanding chronic pain and highly relevant to motivation and cognitive processes. It has been demonstrated that in patients with chronic back pain, altered nucleus accumbens (NAcc)-medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) circuit fMRI-based activity is predictive of patient outcome. We evaluated the NAcc-MPFC circuit in patients with another chronic pain condition, fibromyalgia, to extend these important findings. First, we compared fMRI-based NAcc-MPFC resting-state functional connectivity in patients with fibromyalgia (N = 32) vs. healthy controls (N = 37). Compared to controls, the NAcc-MPFC circuit's connectivity was significantly reduced in fibromyalgia. In addition, within the fibromyalgia group, NAcc-MPFC connectivity was significantly correlated with trait anxiety. Our expanded connectivity analysis of the NAcc to subcortical brain regions showed reduced connectivity of the right NAcc with mesolimbic circuit regions (putamen, thalamus, and ventral pallidum) in fibromyalgia. Lastly, in an exploratory analysis comparing our fibromyalgia and healthy control cohorts to a separate publicly available dataset from patients with chronic back pain, we identified reduced NAcc-MPFC connectivity across both the patient groups with unique alterations in NAcc-mesolimbic connectivity. Together, expanding upon prior observed alterations in brain corticostriatal circuits, our results provide novel evidence of altered corticostriatal and mesolimbic circuits in chronic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Su Hyoun Park
- Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, USA
- Duke Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Durham, USA
- Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Lab, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Box DUMC 3094, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
| | - Anne K Baker
- Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, USA
- Duke Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Durham, USA
- Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Lab, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Box DUMC 3094, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
| | - Vinit Krishna
- Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, USA
- Duke Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Durham, USA
- Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Lab, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Box DUMC 3094, Durham, NC, 27710, USA
| | - Sean C Mackey
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA
| | - Katherine T Martucci
- Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, USA.
- Duke Center for Translational Pain Medicine, Durham, USA.
- Human Affect and Pain Neuroscience Lab, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Box DUMC 3094, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
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